As a reminder to those who may have missed my community post, my schedule is different for the next couple weeks (as I take a bit of time off). There will still be videos each Friday (including this video and a regular Friday-format video the following week). I will go back to my normal two videos a week starting 11/30
If you ever decide to permanently adopt the one video per week format at least speaking for myself I'm perfectly fine with it, as long as you don't feel burned out take your time between videos, no worries :D
The problem I have isn't with the channels like AVGN, Retro Bird, MVG, or My life in Gaming. It's with the ones like Metal Jesus Rocks and the ones that do the "hidden gems" videos to purposely inflate the value of their collections because they know people are gonna run to eBay after the video is up. Not to mention the scams that they run and other things I won't get into. They along with other factors ruined the hobby. So I stopped and got rid of everything. Now I use the minis for my 8 bit and 16 bit retro needs.
It's an interesting topic. I don't think it was anything intentional or malicious, but yes. TH-camrs certainly accelerated what was already happening around 2010. By 2015, everyone had a retro channel. When these channels highlight games by creating content around them, their prices go up because people now want them. Countless times over the past decade, videos have come out on specific games and their prices have gone up. With more people getting into the hobby, the supply is less. So naturally, people are willing to pay more. On top of that, keep people in their homes for a year straight and give them spending money. Prices go up very quickly.
This is perhaps the best TH-cam Channel I have ever subscribed to. Most of your videos are balanced and never lean to one "negative side". All in all, interesting topic .
TH-camrs like Retro Bird got me back into Retro Gaming. I only want games that I want to play. I'm not a must have them all type person as I like my money, so if I spend my money I want to be sure I get good use out of my video games. I've come to realize there is nothing we can do about high prices for certain games. Maybe that game is in a combo pack. I'm all about saving money & I DO NOT need the original cartridge as long as it plays like it originally did. I'm all about playing the game over and over again.
I blame the scalpers on eBay. I sold my N64 collection on there recently and sadly a lot went to sellers who bought it just to mark up on their own shop.
One thing you can always do in the future is try and post it locally -10% of fair market value that way you know it's most likely gonna go to someone that actually wants it. I know this isn't always possible depending on a multitude of circumstances but it's worked for me.
@@ratking27 Yes true, the games I sold separately at a fair price buy it now went to genuine collectors and they were really happy. It was mainly the bundles which I put up at a good price because it saves me postage costs. They're asking for over double the auction sale price for the individual games and console and they're not selling. But this sort of thing will inflate the prices because there's not so many boxed N64 games in mint condition and others might also put listings up at similar prices because they see it that high.
I've said it a dozen times in this channel's comment section but I highly recommend flash carts and ODEs for people that don't want to do straight up software emulation (or get a MiSTer) for trying out games before they buy them. Has saved me a lot of money!
I did like what you had to say!... Seriously though companies are leaving money on the table by not having an on-demand queue for official reproductions, even if they're labelled as such to keep collectors / resellers quiet.
I would love official reproductions. Although I realize it's a pipe dream. There are far more games than people realize whose owners are unknown since the original company went belly up.
@@paddfootsam there's been a few, Mega Man, Star Wars Racer on Nintendo 64, etc, but the big games I think need to be reissued similar to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, makes large batches of them but only for a limited time... plus it would devalue those dumb collectors big collections who never actually play their games and any time you screw collector's of anything when they are responsible for high prices is good
I totally agree with your last point about how we should really prioritize talking about playing and enjoying these games, and about our memories of the times we played them back in the day. Talking about rarity, cost, grading, and the collectors' mindset just leads to yuck. Some retro channels on YT are all about those things, and I often feel like those guys hardly play any games at all, just collect them, brag about having the rare items, etc. One fairly popular guy I saw a video of recently saying "I'm out of retro gaming. I'm out of retro game collecting. It's too expensive now." And he says this in front of a game-room wall covered with *1000s of retro games*. I'm not sure what he means. Does he never touch those games on his wall, and now that the only games he wants cost $100+, he no longer has any interest in spending time with retro games? Because I go through periods where for years I hardly buy any old games ... but during that time I would still say I'm passionate about retro games! They never fall below 50% of what I'm playing during any given month (and that goes for my kids too). Saturn, PS1, Gamecube & PS3 are hooked up to the TV now, and next week for Thanksgiving I'll cycle a couple of those out and bring in "og" Xbox & Genesis. Once a retro gaming hobby turns into nothing more than "the hunt", the acquisition of games, and studying the ebb and flow of their monetary value -- well to me that person has lost the thread... I do spend some time looking at that stuff when I'm in buying mode (because I always want to buy smart), but 90% of my time with retro games is PLAYING them -- by myself, with friends, with my kids.
There is totally a correlation between retro game prices and the the rise of retro gaming youtubers. I distinctly remember certain games going up in price just because AVGN made videos about them. Some games went from mere cents to 50 bucks just cause he called them buffalo diarrhea. And this was back in like 07 or 08. Retro youtubers also totally made people inspired to collect retro games again. I know that's how it worked for me. But you can also toss in the fact that people have grown nostalgic for the pure experience of playing on original hardware.
Great video as always! One thing to add is that playing the game by whatever means available (be it emulation, backwards comparability, online stores, etc) could go a long way to emphasize the enjoyment of playing games over the necessity to pay exorbitant prices.
Exactly. I’ll buy almost any retro game that pops up on iOS. It’s not the best way to play it. But bluetoothing my PS4 controller in bed for some Symphony of the nights action or a few rounds of Streets of rage, or even Neo Turf Masters, is not authentic, but a fun way to play them.
Or just going full yar harr and modding your console or using flash carts! Honestly every system that can have an ODE should get one, as the clock is ticking on the older lasers.
If a certain youtuber calls a game a "Hidden Gem" or "rare", then yes. That's going to attract some attention and the game will spike. Whether or not it's temporarily depends. I blame that Bird guy. He always talks about retro games so he must be raising the prices.
Yes and no. Some TH-camrs (that I shall not name) definitely do take advantage of inflated prices especially when they do sealed game collecting or work with WATA. When it comes to really niche games, it's only bound to get expensive once a big enough personality has highlighted its existence and it goes from unknown to known.
Agreed. In normal circumstances TH-camrs want to bring more exposure to a game they happen to like and hope others play it too. Unfortunately, rising prices are kind of an unavoidable consequence of that...
@@coolnerdyates29 Sometimes it's not even TH-camrs that cause these price increases, for example just look at the entries for Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission on pricecharting, once Metroid Dread was announced the value of those games skyrocketed pretty much overnight. That's a pretty egregious example though.
I had already bought it before I'd discovered this channel, but if I hadn't already I'd definitely have bought it after this channel. That said, this channel has made me appreciate that game even more than I already had.
Oh yeah. I remember back when James and Mike Monday's started that the games they played would get bought up quickly and the price of them skyrocketed. Some resellers and collectors would also buy up every game and prices went up.
I bought an emulation handheld because of prices and now I’m done buying anything outside of 360 for retro playing. I think certain TH-cam collectors have been a problem , like people who treat the hobby as a sport have turned it into a real life Pokémon game. It’s not about playing games it’s about stacking your shelf with trophies. People like me who only want to play what I missed out on are still out of luck. I refuse to pay over 30 bucks for any retro game.
I feel TH-camrs sharing their love for retro games and celebrating gaming history plays a part. The skyrocketing of the prices are this in conjunction with covid lockdowns and stimulus checks, and ebay predators taking advantage of bored people cooped up at home. Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is now like $70 and it used to be about $8. Hurts bad. That being said, I don't want anybody to reserve their voice for their passion for retro games. Keep up the great content, Bird! These discussions actually get me to partake in TH-cam comment section conversations.
I blame Ebay, Pricecharting, and good old fashioned greed. Ebay has questionable practices like their "trending at" price, as well as not publishing the sold prices when best offers are accepted. That's where Pricecharting comes in. They use the inflated price Ebay shows to figure current value, rather than the hidden actual sale price. It's a vicious cycle that results in game prices on a constant uptick. Finally we get greed, where retro game stores set their prices by checking what Ebay sellers are asking, not even what they are actually getting. The only thing to drop values are us consumers losing interest or simply waiting it out and refusing to pay those prices. Thankfully, I collect for over 30 consoles. So certain stupidly priced ones, like Gamecube, are being ignored for a couple years if it takes that long. Eventually prices will come down, it just takes patience and a little friggin self control people.
Yeah, it definitely made things more difficult. My collection followed these TH-camrs. It started innocently enough since a review was great way to find out if a new game was worth playing. At first it was fine. Classic Game Room would come out with a video and I could learn about a new game or console in an entertaining way and if I liked it I'd just go to eBay or go to my local game store. After a few years it seemed like if you didn't get that game on the day the video came out the prices would just start going up. That went for all the other big channels especially anything involving "hidden gems". Though some consoles like GameCube were just organic. I never thought they'd shoot up like they did. To consolidate space I sold my Master System collection which made me sad because it was fun to collect for and play since I had to get the games from all over the world. They had risen in price so much we actually used them to pay off some medical debt. I didn't even know it had become so popular. So it wasn't the only factor, but it was objectively true.
Prime TH-cam content right here 😁 I agree it's pretty clear TH-camrs and the internet in general are definitely hugely responsible for the price of retro and collectible video games going up. Don't think there's much room for people getting mad at TH-camrs for this though. It's just the natural reality of things. If there is a finite supply of something out there and more and more people become aware of and are interested in the thing of course the price is going to increase.
I think the popularity of retro gaming has gotten to the point where it’s aspirational for some. We see happy youtubers surrounded by their huge collections talking cheerily about this or that and there’s an urge to try an buy in to that. The way the hobby is presented on youtube unfortunately normalises owning collections that are out of reach for most retro gamers. Not blaming the youtubers at all, but it’s just human nature. And I don’t think youtubers have any moral obligation to do any different, but if someone did want to do something about it, they could emphasise the miriad ways there are to enjoy the hobby that don’t require owning a log of original hardware, games, pvms and the like as has been done on your channel. I think this channel is a great example of how retro gaming can be presented in an inclusive way.
The single biggest impact on retro prices in the past 2 years has been covid, hands down. Look at literally any retro game's historical price map on pricecharting, and across the board without fail every single one nearly doubled in price early 2020, and so few have come down since. TH-camrs may create bubbles of demand when featuring something, and it's super shady if they tip off collector friends to snap them up before the video drops, but my collection that l have paid probably 5k for over the last decade is worth nearly 15k on today's market, but was only maybe 8-10 pre-covid.
Yes. The Ereader cards were dirt cheap before anyone had made a video on it. Within the last 2 years, the more TH-camrs talked about it, the awareness rose and the rare cards turn into unreasonably priced cards. The SS ticket from Pokemon used to go for $60-$80 and now between $200 - $700
I blame the modern video game market for being so lame that gamers are looking to the past for their fix. Not even just old schooler gamers, but newbies who aren't satisfied with the garbage being published current year.
I've noticed that most games featured on AVGN are dirt cheap and not all of them are that bad. My girlfriend asked me to buy her Fester's Quest because she had it as a kid and loved it. Skeptical, I bought it for $5 and discovered a quirky, fun adventure game with absolutely bumpin' music.
I don't take it personally if TH-camrs inadvertently raise prices on games. There's been times when I've been curious about a game, and then a really popular TH-cam video gets made, so I just forget about picking up a copy for a year or two. There's also been times where they make a video about a game I bought and didn't really get much out of, so I'm encouraged to sell it to the rabid marketplace. Being aware of the demand is a big part of buying old games.
I've been following retro prices for years - youtubers can influence prices, but to "blame" them for the increase is like blaming the weatherman because it rained that day and ruined your picnic plans. People buy games because they feel the need to have them in their collection and I feel if you haven't really been paying attention to specific games and you're waiting for a youtuber to tell you about them, you should be asking yourself if you really wanted that game in the first place. Did you want to play that game or are you only buying it because you want to be part of a club that has Kim Possible on the PlayStation 2. No one is forcing people to buy anything and I feel it's an easy copout to blame youtubers or any other influencers for not having control over your own wallet. I appreciate this viewpoint because it puts a lot into perspective!
Another problem I've held about the prices of retro games come with those selling them who aren't necessarily into the hobby. A lot of these people will have an awareness that old games are popular and therefore must be worth something and try selling you a copy of FIFA 99 on the PlayStation for £10. Obviously an extreme example, but you take my point, equating old with valuable is partially to blame too. You also see it with charity shops, they get a game donated, look up how much it's worth, and sell it for that price, which considering it's a charity shop grates on me a little bit. I ve seen one charity shop online store selling several Games Workshop books (not video games, I know, but undoubtedly it extends to them) for three times the price of sold listing on eBay. And we're not talking insubstantial sums of money either
Enjoyed the video. TH-cam is like a Home Shopping Network - it shows you things you never knew you needed or wanted to try. Before, you could read text descriptions with some photos, possibly videos. eBay and other online retailers offer opportunity. Stimulus money, younger people with smaller families and more disposable income provide fuel. TH-cam can fuel speculation and drive up a price just like any communication from any outlet can - TH-cam just has a wide audience. I saw one person today speculate original Xbox prices could go up because Microsoft is ending efforts for further backwards compatibility. Will someone buy just because he mentioned it? Will someone buy just because I repeated it? Are we “to blame”, or just part of how increased access to information, opportunity and funding works?
Great video. I am military so every few years I move to another state making my once old collection more difficult. With the increase in prices over the games I want I decided to get a playstation classic and separately a usb for 70 bucks that has all NES, SNES, Genesis, decent 32X, decent Sega CD, decent PC Engine, and the PS1 library I want, and have stuck to that. Working on adding dreamcast games which are only 3 titles and I'll be set for those generations. I havent found an affordable solution for ps2 and I don't mind skipping the 360/PS3 era as the games I care about are currently playable but that's my solution.
There's a fairly popular way to mod a PS2 so that you can then just burn all the games you want onto blank CDs. Might even be able to buy a console with the mod already done.
@@RetroBirdGaming Well, the downgrade with emulating games is, it might be a grey area in some countries to download roms, but as I can speak for the situation here in Germany: you are allowed to download and own emulators, because that does not the illegal stuff already. But downloading roms from websites on the other hand is forbidden here. The reason is that the copyright part is strict and some companies even say that this is forbidden due to piracy reasons. I am not talking about the regular mini consoles. In Germany even the argument "I own the original game" would not count. And here I see a problem with emulating, although I have to admit that there are. some reasons that speak for emulating (like preservation e. g.). Not having the chance to play or let's just say own a game because of the high price as an argument for pirating games would be like: I can't afford a Porsche but I want one, so I'm gonna steal one. Or one example that fits it more and is becoming a bigger thing: LEGO. There are companies that try to copy the "click brick" formular and offer their systems to customers to a smaller price which are in the end like 1 to 1 copies. There are some precedence cases where LEGO sued companies to pay a huge amount of money. In China, the government even closes down those companies and they are very strict over there. Back to the rom/emulating part: I've talked with some US people and they are significant differences in law especially to this topic compared to Germany (or even the European Union, as those laws stand above German laws). While over there it is a grey area, and correct me if I am wrong, but you are allowed to make a copy of your game (create a rom) if it is for personal use. And here comes the part where our laws may come in common, where do people get those roms/games if they don't even own the original? That there is a market on eBay, Amazon, Ali Express etc. that sells those roms on so called multi game cards does not make it legal. And I doubt that people own those over 50k games as an original. Sorry, if this felt like I have attacked you. That surely wasn't my intention. I totally agree with you when it comes to emulate or play games in another way. I just wanted to point out the legal and illegal parts and in some countries it isn't that easy.
I was watching this video, then got distracted by real life and spaced out... Until I heard about not ticking off the banana people. Then I was sucked in again. "You do not want to get on the banana people's bad side." Words to live by.
I genuinely want you to get big! You're awesome!! I've been on TH-cam ever since I was a kid (around 2009 to be more specific) and I have seen very few channels that are as awesome as yours in my life time!! You absolutely deserve to get big!!
I don't blame the TH-camrs. Sure, they may brush off the layers of dust from a gem that has been forgotten by the general gaming public, or those too young to even know about it. However, I only blame the people taking advantage of when a gem is unearthed, and those who pay more than they should have to begin with for driving up prices. I also put a little bit of blame on Nintendo and other game companies for not keeping their back catalogue of games readily available and accessible to play in digital form, so that people have little choice but to find an original copy and purchase it.
If has been mentioned before, but the growth of people into the hobby is definitely a factor in the rise of prices. I would imagine that especially those "X games you should have in your collection" videos are used as a starting place for newcomers into a system.
As always, a well presented topic. One main thing I want to point out is that you haven't blamed anyone to be responsible for the climbing prices of games. Instead you put the light on different opinions, reasons (like the limited amount of retro games). Besides TH-camrs rubbing their newest trophies/games/collection under other people's nose, rising prices do in my opinion also rise the price of repros. For someone who gets started it can easily happen that they pay a high price for reproduction without knowing it. I love to support TH-camrs who are really passionate to retro games and a recommendation (even it can lead to higher prices, too) for games doesn't always have to be a bad thing. I've found some really good gems because of recommendations. And for those who can live with it to not to play the original cartridge on the original console, sometimes it is possible to play those games on newer consoles. Well N64 games on switch... that's another topic. But what I would like to know from you people here, what's the maximum price you would pay, for retro game you really want and how much is the condition important for you, especially cartridge games that come only as cartridge without manual or box.
In a way, anyone who talks about games tends to feed into the price jumps. I bought Witch's Wish for $5 and now it's $100+ complete. I'm one of the few people who even talked about it but some others have played the game and posted the music here on TH-cam. It's a great game! Kinda rare though.
I don't blame the youtuber, I blame the one that said "oh, this youtuber likes this game. I'm going to sell it and jack up the price." That being said, if a game is out of my reach then it's just out of my reach. No use being bitter about it.
I rented Rocket Knight as a kid, my mom returned Sonic to the video store instead by accident and no one ever noticed. So I've always had Rocket Knight as a result. And i still have that rocket knight now, but i eventually found a box and manual for it.
One BIG part of the problem is sellers on Ebay who charge more than others then other sellers see that and think it's ok to charge that much and maybe a tiny bit more, then it just repeats and prices keep climbing because sellers charge whatever they think they can get away with. Very frustrating.
Being a collector, it definitely adds to the overwhelming feeling that you need to get games that are well-received. That being said, it’s ultimately up to us to decide which games we actually need. Having a variety of games you want to try is nice but you can’t get to everything and TH-camrs definitely make it more difficult to get these games cheaper. However, i’ve resorted to digital purchases on games I can’t access that i’d really love to try.
Thank you for saying this straight to the face ! I hate when youtubers deny they have any responsibility in prices on the market . Especially when they are secretly selling stuff behind doors under other names . Not even just video games but like card games and such.
Here's a thought I'm sure many never considered. TH-cam channels talking about retro gaming made it possible for more people than otherwise. The reason why is if retro gaming never became like it was/is things would have been like they were before. Namely people just chucking it all in the trash because it was worthless or just junk cluttering up their home. It's why so many old games don't have the box or manual. I remember when Atari and NES games were pennies at flea markets and you'd see them week after week untouched. I remember the AVGN doing his video on the Sega 32x and saying he bought two of them, brand new, for $2.50! I remember seeing them for that price also. None of this would be seen as cool, culturally significant, or anything at all without TH-cam creators talking about it. It's like winning the lottery but complaining about paying taxes on it. Be grateful to have it at all.
I think TH-camrs and streamer on Twitch talking about classic videogames was a time bomb, and the detonator was the pandemic, people before pandemic was like: oh that classic game looks interesting, when I get time I'll buy and try it
I'm sure people got the ideas for what to go for from watching TH-camrs, but people have been talking about old console hidden gems & games they like for about ten years & it's only gotten this bad in the last year, give or take a few months.
The truth is when any game I'm after gets mentioned in a video with a lot of people seeing it the price going up does cross my mind... But I wouldn't ever be angry at someone for unintentionally raising the price, I think it's going to happen no matter what. If not for TH-cam there would still be forums discussing these games or any kind of social gathering on the internet focused on game collecting, and collectors will always be after the more expensive games keeping the demand high.
Yeah somewhat but at least these channels have their hearts in the right places, sharing their passion for gaming. Not like the crooked ass grading companies and auction houses artificially inflating prices for pure profit.
Interesting video! I think TH-camrs have unintentionally raised prices, or at least got people excited to buy certain games. I wouldn't blame TH-camrs though, it's just supply and demand I guess. Also buying a cart is a choice, there are plenty of very decent emulation options out there. Channels like yours are a great thing for the retro community! On saying that, if Mr Nutz increases in price I will hold you personally responsible haha
I definitely bought Rocket Knight Adventures because of you, but I can't singularly blame TH-camrs for high game prices. Ebay and Facebook groups along with TH-cam all play a part in allowing access and information that influences the market dynamics for more things than video games.
An idea for a future video. I'm both a film buff, and a retro gamer. I can watch any movie I want on any system I want and no one bats an eye. I'll even get sideways glances that most of my collection is on VHS, as everyone else has moved to 4K Blu Rays or whatever the new hot thing is. Why is it that retro gamers are so absolutely dead set on "accuracy", while other communities don't care? I play most of my games emulated. I love that I can have every system I had as a kid on 1 hard drive, and them take up minimal space, both physically and on the hard drive, and I especially love retro handhelds that I can play anywhere. That drives people nuts. People even say I haven't played them if I don't play a physical copy, yet no one says that I haven't watched Dracula because I didn't watch it on an authentic film projector from 1930. Always been a thing about the retro community that irked me, and I'd be curious to hear your, and others, take on it
Oh yes I can name ALOT of them. They are to blame and also this pandemic also everybody wanted to explore the good Ol days and be posers. A lot has changed
If a lot of TH-camrs jump on a topic because it is trending it can have an impact on prices and that usually happens around a new release of an older franchise. In the 3 months leading up to Metroid Dread I've seen the prices rise for the Prime games, Super Metroid went for 60 euros loose on average and the GBA games like Fusion where impossible to find. It's only logical. It sucks that the games become more expensive but it's kinda beautiful that so many people around the world are looking to discover or rediscover that same franchise. It's like a spirit bomb and TH-camrs do bring them together 😉
I've had people in my comments, even as a very small channel, telling me that when I recommend games I'm pushing the prices up. But I have to say like I don't know what the alternative is. It's a retro game channel...going to talk about them. The only way the games stay cheap is if nobody cares about them, but then there is no community.
Honestly, I think it's WATA. WATA is terrible as they don't make sense. Sometimes someone brought in a game, it got graded, then gave the same game, they got an entirely different grade. And there has been evidence that they have been scamming especially the really rare games. No one really uses WATA. I don't think anyone uses it other than rich people who wanna sell it for profit. The listings that are expensive on ebay of those games are sellers who, well, are rich and reseller and the people who buy them are people who resell too. So the only people who buy these are resellers themselves trying to flip them for profit. If I sold a wata game for 500 for example, the person who bought it would probably list it for more than 500 to make some kind of profit. It's quite stupid honestly. This goes for regular games, video games are more than just a hobby, they are getting to be serious collectors items like vintage hotwheels for example, so those prices rise because of those stupid rich people who flip them for profit. They don't care about the game itself, if it's anything they can make money off of, they'll do it.
The algorithm blessed me. TH-cam recommended me this video right after reading some comments from another video from another guy who's just quited from collecting. I and thought with myself about how ridiculous it is. People want to blame everyone about stuff like that but, c'mom, we are in 2022... with internet... people definitely TALK about stuff they like. And naturally the stuff get more and more expensive. I live in Brazil, our economy is not going well and I have much more to worry than buying retro games and I'm fine playing stuff on my moddificated Wii with my crt and a blueretro for my gamepads. Videogames are still one of the most beloved things for millions of people around the world, who have grown playing them and are still pretty much alive. And, old games are getting older and older and it's going o be harder to find them so it's was going to happen anyway. As he said, there's much more about these games than collecting and I'm pretty much happy to see videos where I discover amazing games I've never played before. Perhaps I can't buy them now but I can always have tons of fun but simply playing them.
Honestly, I've learned more from sites like Hardcore Gaming 101 and Racketboy than I ever did any TH-cam channel and still prefer that route. Most big channels are just giving me a game or list of games to play with little insight on the game itself. Some of the smaller channels who can spend the time talking about games are hard to come by because YT isn't their job, so they post when they can. As for prices, I know i paid $200 for Sega CD Snatcher, twice before 2010. Now you can't even pay that amount for the disc alone. I don't blame YT alone, but it hasn't helped, especially with people thinking games are an investment like Beanie Babies were an investment. I'd like more vintage collections, but I also know some games rights are lost to dead companies.
True 💸👌I bought a loose copy of Sumo Fighter for Gameboy in fall 2018 for only 29.99. I just sold it last month and was shocked how much the retro store gave me. 🥰
We don’t have to blame you for Rocket Knight shooting up in price - that happened a long time ago. Thankfully I got it in the 2000’s when it was still cheap.
The complaint about TH-camrs raising prices always feels a little odd because the people complaining usually only wanted the game because of the same videos that supposedly led to the price increase. In other words, the same game may have cost less a year ago, but does it really matter what it went for back you didn't even know it existed? Unless somebody happened to be working on a full set for that console or something like that, I take their claims that they were just about to buy a game that's been around since the nineties any day now until the price spiked with a grain of salt. I've been just about to organize my closet for months now.
Some of the games in my collection I purchased solely because I heard TH-camrs raving about them **cough** Rocket Knight Adventures **cough** and haven't been disappointed thus far, however I do thoroughly check out gameplay footage and reviews before making a final decision to purchase.
I mean I am surely not that happy when a game is to high in price but if it doesn't got any rerelease or port officially, it's going to be a problem. That's why I am also happy that collections and ports exists if I don't get the thing on real hardware.
Prices going up has been frustrating but I'm not going to become irate at TH-camrs for that. What I will complain about are Top 10 or insert number here lists where they are nothing more than "hey look what I have" instead of actual good games.
Another big reason is WATA games and Heritage auctions. They artificially drive prices up for their own financial gains. Watch Karl Jobst's video for a more in-depth explanation
I think nostalgia is more to blame. That's why GameCube era is so popular right now; the kids that grew up with it are in their mid to late 20s. NES and SNES were similarly high priced 10-12 years ago but can now be found fairly cheaply (with some exceptions, of course).
If you count PS3 as Retro (let's just do it for now), then I think there is one example of a dev/publisher that just made more copies of a sought-after game. Did anyone recognize the price dive of Drakengard 3? It went from 100$ to 30$ within a month or two and Ebay was, out of nowhere, filled with copies of it. I live in an European country and even a retailer here got stocked up again with this game. Is it really possible that PS3 games still got produced?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, this is a fact that is extremely and almost inarguably true. Being serious, though, I blame videos with titles including the words "Hidden Gems" and "Rarest and Most Valuable" for the bulk of the drive. Along with that, some TH-camrs also frequently showcase "Video Game Rooms of the Rich and Famous" that normalize a really unhealthy and unachievable idea of how much it's appropriate for a financially normal person to spend on this hobby. I appreciate your rationality on the subject, Bird, along with some other TH-camrs who will flat-out tell gamers the cost of a title and immediately follow it up with "but it's ABSOLUTELY not worth that! Don't pay that!" (Props to Sega Lord X on that note.) But as long as clickbaity videos keep urging gamers toward the notion that expense equates to quality, this problem will only worsen. When we start having titles about "Awesome and Affordable NES Games Anyone Can Enjoy", maybe we'll start to see light at the end of this tunnel.
I think unless the game is really niche a TH-cam vid won't raise the price too much. What will raise the price the most is that Shenmue example you gave. There were some Sega Saturn mahjong games released physically for switch in Japan only but this still made the original Sega Saturn games balloon in price from around 10-30 dollars to now most listings being around 150 dollars....
They should be expensive. When they're cheap too many people buy themselves a huge collection only to get bored or move or something and fling all those cheap games in the garbage.
They certainly contribute to it, but it's not a problem they started. It's a combination of a bunch of different factors driving it from scalpers to nostalgia, where TH-camrs are only one aspect of it.
When I realized that I am paying upwards of $100+ per game for what amounts to just a plastic cd, manual, generic jewel case, and paper back insert, and the disc will eventually soon die to disc rot, I cashed out and I am never buying another "retro" game again at these prices. There has to be a relative value on return for what the dollar amount is, and I'm sorry, you're out of your mind if you think it's worth it, and this game collecting hobby is a complete joke now. It really, reeeeeally isn't "supply and demand" (for the most part, some games are actually in low numbers like Beyond Shadowgate for the Turbo Duo or something like that), it comes down to the delusion of people thinking others care about your video game collection and thinking you're a badass so people will pay whatever the asking price is with little to no proof of said actual supply, and the elitism that follows it because money value. I know this elitism doesn't apply to everyone, I kept a few games valued over $200 because they mean a lot to me from when I played them in the 80's and 90's. However when money is involved, it ruins everything. I mean, paying tens of thousands of dollars for old video games just to sit on a shelf so you can look at them and go, wow! Obviously worth it looooooool! And if you're paying these prices playing this as a collector stonk market, well congratz on being a part of the problem because all you care about is money. These were once dorky forgotten "old" games that you would find at a thrift or flea market for a few bucks, play them for the nostalgias, and then forget about, they aren't show off shelfie trophies. Kinda sickening when you think about what our 80's and 90's childhood has turned into.
UPDATE: In light of new information I’ve recently learned. I’m not sure TH-camrs hold much of the blame. Watch this: th-cam.com/video/mKbuNwS-gaI/w-d-xo.html Thanks for being honest about it. Metal Jesus has a very popular gaming channel, and says that he doesn’t think he effects the prices. Reviewing a game and telling people it’s a must-have gem, increases demand. The law of supply and demand is predictable. So I appreciate that you didn’t deny the common sense reality of it.
Imo to some extent they are. I'm not hostile towards youtubers but I recognize that they contributed heavily to the nostalgia factor and the reawakening of "collecting", the rise of prices with "hidden gems" and this fad of gamers showing off their collections for attention. Although I quit collecting I am guilty being on the bandwagon myself. After seeing the documentary Nintendo Quest it motivated me to attempt a complete Nes set. I had zero interest in a full set before I saw that movie. Media makes a difference in motivating people in ways they wouldn't have without the added influence.
Agreed 100%. Then gamer youtubers complain that retro game prices have gone up haha... "Look at this game I have and it's becoming rare...Look at me..blah blah blah..." we're all guilty of this haha
Game prices rise over time... believe me, now is the time to put 360/ps3/DS games. They are literally pennies! NES, SNES, Genesis, GameCube etc were all cheap years ago. I bought so many NES games CIB from local shops for around $3, now they'd be $20-$80.
Sure You Tubers have made the prices of a lot of games go up, but then there is also the very positive sides to this. If not for them bringing attention to games I didn't know about I would not even buy them. Also a lot of games I look up walkthroughs that You Tubers post. A lot of times they actually end up saving me a lot of money because I can see whether I like this game or not. Rather than just buying it because I looked at the box art cover. For me personally TH-cam has been a place for research. The games I saved money on buy not buying them is the most important thing to me.
Another topic well presented that exposes many issues and talking points, were you a member off a debate team growing up? Quick point/no nuance. I recently called out a channel for being both a ridiculous consumer and a TH-camr inflating interest when they put out a video of them purchasing a poor condition Sharp C1 (for $1000). I personally believe the biggest single issue right now is that the Supply/Demand curve has been shifted to the right by consumers purchasing low grade items at mid to high grade prices rather than TH-camrs.
the shenmu example hit pretty close to home TBH. I didnt buy the originals but I DID buy the ps4 port of 1&2 and MAN was that the fastest ive ever sold a game im glad I didnt buy the originals that would have stung
As a reminder to those who may have missed my community post, my schedule is different for the next couple weeks (as I take a bit of time off). There will still be videos each Friday (including this video and a regular Friday-format video the following week). I will go back to my normal two videos a week starting 11/30
Enjoy the break
Hey I hope your break helps you. Also really enjoy your stuff on here.
If you ever decide to permanently adopt the one video per week format at least speaking for myself I'm perfectly fine with it, as long as you don't feel burned out take your time between videos, no worries :D
Happy holiday season Bird 😎👍
Enjoy your time off, Matt!
The problem I have isn't with the channels like AVGN, Retro Bird, MVG, or My life in Gaming. It's with the ones like Metal Jesus Rocks and the ones that do the "hidden gems" videos to purposely inflate the value of their collections because they know people are gonna run to eBay after the video is up. Not to mention the scams that they run and other things I won't get into. They along with other factors ruined the hobby. So I stopped and got rid of everything. Now I use the minis for my 8 bit and 16 bit retro needs.
It's an interesting topic.
I don't think it was anything intentional or malicious, but yes. TH-camrs certainly accelerated what was already happening around 2010. By 2015, everyone had a retro channel. When these channels highlight games by creating content around them, their prices go up because people now want them. Countless times over the past decade, videos have come out on specific games and their prices have gone up.
With more people getting into the hobby, the supply is less. So naturally, people are willing to pay more. On top of that, keep people in their homes for a year straight and give them spending money. Prices go up very quickly.
lets blame covid as wata, heritage auctions and their "collector" friends did it hahahaa
This is perhaps the best TH-cam Channel I have ever subscribed to. Most of your videos are balanced and never lean to one "negative side".
All in all, interesting topic .
Thank you! Glad you like my style :)
TH-camrs like Retro Bird got me back into Retro Gaming. I only want games that I want to play. I'm not a must have them all type person as I like my money, so if I spend my money I want to be sure I get good use out of my video games. I've come to realize there is nothing we can do about high prices for certain games. Maybe that game is in a combo pack. I'm all about saving money & I DO NOT need the original cartridge as long as it plays like it originally did. I'm all about playing the game over and over again.
I blame the scalpers on eBay. I sold my N64 collection on there recently and sadly a lot went to sellers who bought it just to mark up on their own shop.
Buy low sell high its a tactic that has been used for a very very long time
One thing you can always do in the future is try and post it locally -10% of fair market value that way you know it's most likely gonna go to someone that actually wants it. I know this isn't always possible depending on a multitude of circumstances but it's worked for me.
@@ratking27 Yes true, the games I sold separately at a fair price buy it now went to genuine collectors and they were really happy. It was mainly the bundles which I put up at a good price because it saves me postage costs. They're asking for over double the auction sale price for the individual games and console and they're not selling. But this sort of thing will inflate the prices because there's not so many boxed N64 games in mint condition and others might also put listings up at similar prices because they see it that high.
I've said it a dozen times in this channel's comment section but I highly recommend flash carts and ODEs for people that don't want to do straight up software emulation (or get a MiSTer) for trying out games before they buy them. Has saved me a lot of money!
do you know what the point of game collecting is?
Absolutely a great option!
@@quackywhackityphillyb.3005 To put off getting help for your hoarding problem as long as possible?
@@willmistretta if you're not a game collector, why are you watching a game collection channel??? -turning point dreamcast
@@quackywhackityphillyb.3005For the bananas, of course.
I did like what you had to say!... Seriously though companies are leaving money on the table by not having an on-demand queue for official reproductions, even if they're labelled as such to keep collectors / resellers quiet.
That would be really fun to have!
I would love official reproductions. Although I realize it's a pipe dream. There are far more games than people realize whose owners are unknown since the original company went belly up.
@@paddfootsam there's been a few, Mega Man, Star Wars Racer on Nintendo 64, etc, but the big games I think need to be reissued similar to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, makes large batches of them but only for a limited time... plus it would devalue those dumb collectors big collections who never actually play their games and any time you screw collector's of anything when they are responsible for high prices is good
I totally agree with your last point about how we should really prioritize talking about playing and enjoying these games, and about our memories of the times we played them back in the day. Talking about rarity, cost, grading, and the collectors' mindset just leads to yuck. Some retro channels on YT are all about those things, and I often feel like those guys hardly play any games at all, just collect them, brag about having the rare items, etc.
One fairly popular guy I saw a video of recently saying "I'm out of retro gaming. I'm out of retro game collecting. It's too expensive now." And he says this in front of a game-room wall covered with *1000s of retro games*. I'm not sure what he means. Does he never touch those games on his wall, and now that the only games he wants cost $100+, he no longer has any interest in spending time with retro games? Because I go through periods where for years I hardly buy any old games ... but during that time I would still say I'm passionate about retro games! They never fall below 50% of what I'm playing during any given month (and that goes for my kids too). Saturn, PS1, Gamecube & PS3 are hooked up to the TV now, and next week for Thanksgiving I'll cycle a couple of those out and bring in "og" Xbox & Genesis.
Once a retro gaming hobby turns into nothing more than "the hunt", the acquisition of games, and studying the ebb and flow of their monetary value -- well to me that person has lost the thread... I do spend some time looking at that stuff when I'm in buying mode (because I always want to buy smart), but 90% of my time with retro games is PLAYING them -- by myself, with friends, with my kids.
There is totally a correlation between retro game prices and the the rise of retro gaming youtubers. I distinctly remember certain games going up in price just because AVGN made videos about them. Some games went from mere cents to 50 bucks just cause he called them buffalo diarrhea. And this was back in like 07 or 08. Retro youtubers also totally made people inspired to collect retro games again. I know that's how it worked for me. But you can also toss in the fact that people have grown nostalgic for the pure experience of playing on original hardware.
idk, dr. jekyll and hyde nes game is listed for like 12 bucks and it did won the "shitty game award" from the avgn hahaa
I feel like youtubers have a short term impact on games most of the time
No, but I have seen a suspicious uptick in banana prices recently.🤔
Great video as always! One thing to add is that playing the game by whatever means available (be it emulation, backwards comparability, online stores, etc) could go a long way to emphasize the enjoyment of playing games over the necessity to pay exorbitant prices.
Exactly. I’ll buy almost any retro game that pops up on iOS. It’s not the best way to play it. But bluetoothing my PS4 controller in bed for some Symphony of the nights action or a few rounds of Streets of rage, or even Neo Turf Masters, is not authentic, but a fun way to play them.
Or just going full yar harr and modding your console or using flash carts! Honestly every system that can have an ODE should get one, as the clock is ticking on the older lasers.
If a certain youtuber calls a game a "Hidden Gem" or "rare", then yes. That's going to attract some attention and the game will spike. Whether or not it's temporarily depends.
I blame that Bird guy. He always talks about retro games so he must be raising the prices.
Nothing wrong with calling a rare game rare.
@@kingofdust9725 If it's actually rare then yeah. Most rare games aren't rare though. They are just expensive.
Yes and no. Some TH-camrs (that I shall not name) definitely do take advantage of inflated prices especially when they do sealed game collecting or work with WATA.
When it comes to really niche games, it's only bound to get expensive once a big enough personality has highlighted its existence and it goes from unknown to known.
Agreed. In normal circumstances TH-camrs want to bring more exposure to a game they happen to like and hope others play it too. Unfortunately, rising prices are kind of an unavoidable consequence of that...
You don't have to name them but you can abbreviate them. Like MJR for example. No one will ever know.
@@coolnerdyates29 Sometimes it's not even TH-camrs that cause these price increases, for example just look at the entries for Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission on pricecharting, once Metroid Dread was announced the value of those games skyrocketed pretty much overnight. That's a pretty egregious example though.
@@neetlukako Stimulus money pushed this one up, it didn't spike till Feb '21, when a stimmy was handed out. Check pricecharting
@@breakthings TBH, I totally forgot about that. It was a good thing overall, but sucked for retro game prices...
I 100% bought Rocket Knight Adventures because of you. No regrets and I would've paid more. All you are owed is a thank you.
What did you end up dropping on it? I remember RKA being about 30 when I got it, but the CIB was about 60 and I wish I’d just gotten that
I had already bought it before I'd discovered this channel, but if I hadn't already I'd definitely have bought it after this channel. That said, this channel has made me appreciate that game even more than I already had.
I stumbled across a channel called Phoenix Resale. People like that are the problem and are messing it up for gamers like us.
Oh yeah. I remember back when James and Mike Monday's started that the games they played would get bought up quickly and the price of them skyrocketed.
Some resellers and collectors would also buy up every game and prices went up.
I bought an emulation handheld because of prices and now I’m done buying anything outside of 360 for retro playing. I think certain TH-cam collectors have been a problem , like people who treat the hobby as a sport have turned it into a real life Pokémon game. It’s not about playing games it’s about stacking your shelf with trophies. People like me who only want to play what I missed out on are still out of luck. I refuse to pay over 30 bucks for any retro game.
I feel TH-camrs sharing their love for retro games and celebrating gaming history plays a part. The skyrocketing of the prices are this in conjunction with covid lockdowns and stimulus checks, and ebay predators taking advantage of bored people cooped up at home.
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is now like $70 and it used to be about $8. Hurts bad. That being said, I don't want anybody to reserve their voice for their passion for retro games. Keep up the great content, Bird! These discussions actually get me to partake in TH-cam comment section conversations.
Glad you're liking the conversations!
I blame Ebay, Pricecharting, and good old fashioned greed. Ebay has questionable practices like their "trending at" price, as well as not publishing the sold prices when best offers are accepted. That's where Pricecharting comes in. They use the inflated price Ebay shows to figure current value, rather than the hidden actual sale price. It's a vicious cycle that results in game prices on a constant uptick. Finally we get greed, where retro game stores set their prices by checking what Ebay sellers are asking, not even what they are actually getting. The only thing to drop values are us consumers losing interest or simply waiting it out and refusing to pay those prices. Thankfully, I collect for over 30 consoles. So certain stupidly priced ones, like Gamecube, are being ignored for a couple years if it takes that long. Eventually prices will come down, it just takes patience and a little friggin self control people.
Yeah, it definitely made things more difficult. My collection followed these TH-camrs. It started innocently enough since a review was great way to find out if a new game was worth playing. At first it was fine. Classic Game Room would come out with a video and I could learn about a new game or console in an entertaining way and if I liked it I'd just go to eBay or go to my local game store. After a few years it seemed like if you didn't get that game on the day the video came out the prices would just start going up. That went for all the other big channels especially anything involving "hidden gems". Though some consoles like GameCube were just organic. I never thought they'd shoot up like they did. To consolidate space I sold my Master System collection which made me sad because it was fun to collect for and play since I had to get the games from all over the world. They had risen in price so much we actually used them to pay off some medical debt. I didn't even know it had become so popular. So it wasn't the only factor, but it was objectively true.
Prime TH-cam content right here 😁
I agree it's pretty clear TH-camrs and the internet in general are definitely hugely responsible for the price of retro and collectible video games going up. Don't think there's much room for people getting mad at TH-camrs for this though. It's just the natural reality of things. If there is a finite supply of something out there and more and more people become aware of and are interested in the thing of course the price is going to increase.
Thank you my friend!
I think the popularity of retro gaming has gotten to the point where it’s aspirational for some. We see happy youtubers surrounded by their huge collections talking cheerily about this or that and there’s an urge to try an buy in to that. The way the hobby is presented on youtube unfortunately normalises owning collections that are out of reach for most retro gamers. Not blaming the youtubers at all, but it’s just human nature. And I don’t think youtubers have any moral obligation to do any different, but if someone did want to do something about it, they could emphasise the miriad ways there are to enjoy the hobby that don’t require owning a log of original hardware, games, pvms and the like as has been done on your channel. I think this channel is a great example of how retro gaming can be presented in an inclusive way.
Thank you! I'm glad that message is coming across.
The single biggest impact on retro prices in the past 2 years has been covid, hands down. Look at literally any retro game's historical price map on pricecharting, and across the board without fail every single one nearly doubled in price early 2020, and so few have come down since. TH-camrs may create bubbles of demand when featuring something, and it's super shady if they tip off collector friends to snap them up before the video drops, but my collection that l have paid probably 5k for over the last decade is worth nearly 15k on today's market, but was only maybe 8-10 pre-covid.
This mass inflation right now isn’t helping much either.
Yes.
The Ereader cards were dirt cheap before anyone had made a video on it. Within the last 2 years, the more TH-camrs talked about it, the awareness rose and the rare cards turn into unreasonably priced cards.
The SS ticket from Pokemon used to go for $60-$80 and now between $200 - $700
I blame the modern video game market for being so lame that gamers are looking to the past for their fix. Not even just old schooler gamers, but newbies who aren't satisfied with the garbage being published current year.
I've noticed that most games featured on AVGN are dirt cheap and not all of them are that bad. My girlfriend asked me to buy her Fester's Quest because she had it as a kid and loved it. Skeptical, I bought it for $5 and discovered a quirky, fun adventure game with absolutely bumpin' music.
I don't take it personally if TH-camrs inadvertently raise prices on games. There's been times when I've been curious about a game, and then a really popular TH-cam video gets made, so I just forget about picking up a copy for a year or two. There's also been times where they make a video about a game I bought and didn't really get much out of, so I'm encouraged to sell it to the rabid marketplace. Being aware of the demand is a big part of buying old games.
I've been following retro prices for years - youtubers can influence prices, but to "blame" them for the increase is like blaming the weatherman because it rained that day and ruined your picnic plans. People buy games because they feel the need to have them in their collection and I feel if you haven't really been paying attention to specific games and you're waiting for a youtuber to tell you about them, you should be asking yourself if you really wanted that game in the first place. Did you want to play that game or are you only buying it because you want to be part of a club that has Kim Possible on the PlayStation 2. No one is forcing people to buy anything and I feel it's an easy copout to blame youtubers or any other influencers for not having control over your own wallet.
I appreciate this viewpoint because it puts a lot into perspective!
Another problem I've held about the prices of retro games come with those selling them who aren't necessarily into the hobby. A lot of these people will have an awareness that old games are popular and therefore must be worth something and try selling you a copy of FIFA 99 on the PlayStation for £10. Obviously an extreme example, but you take my point, equating old with valuable is partially to blame too. You also see it with charity shops, they get a game donated, look up how much it's worth, and sell it for that price, which considering it's a charity shop grates on me a little bit. I ve seen one charity shop online store selling several Games Workshop books (not video games, I know, but undoubtedly it extends to them) for three times the price of sold listing on eBay. And we're not talking insubstantial sums of money either
Enjoyed the video. TH-cam is like a Home Shopping Network - it shows you things you never knew you needed or wanted to try. Before, you could read text descriptions with some photos, possibly videos. eBay and other online retailers offer opportunity. Stimulus money, younger people with smaller families and more disposable income provide fuel. TH-cam can fuel speculation and drive up a price just like any communication from any outlet can - TH-cam just has a wide audience. I saw one person today speculate original Xbox prices could go up because Microsoft is ending efforts for further backwards compatibility. Will someone buy just because he mentioned it? Will someone buy just because I repeated it? Are we “to blame”, or just part of how increased access to information, opportunity and funding works?
Great video.
I am military so every few years I move to another state making my once old collection more difficult. With the increase in prices over the games I want I decided to get a playstation classic and separately a usb for 70 bucks that has all NES, SNES, Genesis, decent 32X, decent Sega CD, decent PC Engine, and the PS1 library I want, and have stuck to that. Working on adding dreamcast games which are only 3 titles and I'll be set for those generations.
I havent found an affordable solution for ps2 and I don't mind skipping the 360/PS3 era as the games I care about are currently playable but that's my solution.
There's a fairly popular way to mod a PS2 so that you can then just burn all the games you want onto blank CDs. Might even be able to buy a console with the mod already done.
@@RetroBirdGaming I'll look into that!
@@RetroBirdGaming Well, the downgrade with emulating games is, it might be a grey area in some countries to download roms, but as I can speak for the situation here in Germany: you are allowed to download and own emulators, because that does not the illegal stuff already. But downloading roms from websites on the other hand is forbidden here. The reason is that the copyright part is strict and some companies even say that this is forbidden due to piracy reasons. I am not talking about the regular mini consoles. In Germany even the argument "I own the original game" would not count.
And here I see a problem with emulating, although I have to admit that there are. some reasons that speak for emulating (like preservation e. g.). Not having the chance to play or let's just say own a game because of the high price as an argument for pirating games would be like: I can't afford a Porsche but I want one, so I'm gonna steal one. Or one example that fits it more and is becoming a bigger thing: LEGO. There are companies that try to copy the "click brick" formular and offer their systems to customers to a smaller price which are in the end like 1 to 1 copies. There are some precedence cases where LEGO sued companies to pay a huge amount of money. In China, the government even closes down those companies and they are very strict over there.
Back to the rom/emulating part: I've talked with some US people and they are significant differences in law especially to this topic compared to Germany (or even the European Union, as those laws stand above German laws). While over there it is a grey area, and correct me if I am wrong, but you are allowed to make a copy of your game (create a rom) if it is for personal use. And here comes the part where our laws may come in common, where do people get those roms/games if they don't even own the original? That there is a market on eBay, Amazon, Ali Express etc. that sells those roms on so called multi game cards does not make it legal. And I doubt that people own those over 50k games as an original.
Sorry, if this felt like I have attacked you. That surely wasn't my intention. I totally agree with you when it comes to emulate or play games in another way. I just wanted to point out the legal and illegal parts and in some countries it isn't that easy.
I think we all know who's to blame for the rocketing prices of games marked "TIMMY"...
I was watching this video, then got distracted by real life and spaced out... Until I heard about not ticking off the banana people. Then I was sucked in again.
"You do not want to get on the banana people's bad side."
Words to live by.
First time I've ever liked a video before I saw it. This guy has quickly become one of my favorite retro game TH-camrs
He's quickly become one of my favorite youtubers at all. So happy to stumble upon his channel
truth!
I do that to all the channels I like. Just out of respect for the creator, even if it's not my favourite video
I genuinely want you to get big!
You're awesome!!
I've been on TH-cam ever since I was a kid (around 2009 to be more specific) and I have seen very few channels that are as awesome as yours in my life time!!
You absolutely deserve to get big!!
Thank you my friend! Really appreciate that :)
I don't blame the TH-camrs. Sure, they may brush off the layers of dust from a gem that has been forgotten by the general gaming public, or those too young to even know about it.
However, I only blame the people taking advantage of when a gem is unearthed, and those who pay more than they should have to begin with for driving up prices. I also put a little bit of blame on Nintendo and other game companies for not keeping their back catalogue of games readily available and accessible to play in digital form, so that people have little choice but to find an original copy and purchase it.
If has been mentioned before, but the growth of people into the hobby is definitely a factor in the rise of prices. I would imagine that especially those "X games you should have in your collection" videos are used as a starting place for newcomers into a system.
As always, a well presented topic. One main thing I want to point out is that you haven't blamed anyone to be responsible for the climbing prices of games. Instead you put the light on different opinions, reasons (like the limited amount of retro games).
Besides TH-camrs rubbing their newest trophies/games/collection under other people's nose, rising prices do in my opinion also rise the price of repros. For someone who gets started it can easily happen that they pay a high price for reproduction without knowing it.
I love to support TH-camrs who are really passionate to retro games and a recommendation (even it can lead to higher prices, too) for games doesn't always have to be a bad thing. I've found some really good gems because of recommendations.
And for those who can live with it to not to play the original cartridge on the original console, sometimes it is possible to play those games on newer consoles. Well N64 games on switch... that's another topic.
But what I would like to know from you people here, what's the maximum price you would pay, for retro game you really want and how much is the condition important for you, especially cartridge games that come only as cartridge without manual or box.
In a way, anyone who talks about games tends to feed into the price jumps. I bought Witch's Wish for $5 and now it's $100+ complete. I'm one of the few people who even talked about it but some others have played the game and posted the music here on TH-cam. It's a great game! Kinda rare though.
Interesting to hear everyones opinions including yours. MJR just did his PS2 collection. Go go go
I don't blame the youtuber, I blame the one that said "oh, this youtuber likes this game. I'm going to sell it and jack up the price." That being said, if a game is out of my reach then it's just out of my reach. No use being bitter about it.
I rented Rocket Knight as a kid, my mom returned Sonic to the video store instead by accident and no one ever noticed. So I've always had Rocket Knight as a result. And i still have that rocket knight now, but i eventually found a box and manual for it.
One BIG part of the problem is sellers on Ebay who charge more than others then other sellers see that and think it's ok to charge that much and maybe a tiny bit more, then it just repeats and prices keep climbing because sellers charge whatever they think they can get away with. Very frustrating.
EXACTLY. It has nothing to do with actual supply and demand, it's that people are willing to pay whatever and sellers take advantage of it.
Being a collector, it definitely adds to the overwhelming feeling that you need to get games that are well-received. That being said, it’s ultimately up to us to decide which games we actually need. Having a variety of games you want to try is nice but you can’t get to everything and TH-camrs definitely make it more difficult to get these games cheaper. However, i’ve resorted to digital purchases on games I can’t access that i’d really love to try.
Ever since you shared your bread bag clip collection i haven't been able to find any clips at garage sales or pawn shops. Thanks a lot
Some people bought _currently_ expensive games many years ago for a cheap price.
Don't blame us. No one even watches our show.
Thank you for saying this straight to the face ! I hate when youtubers deny they have any responsibility in prices on the market . Especially when they are secretly selling stuff behind doors under other names . Not even just video games but like card games and such.
Here's a thought I'm sure many never considered. TH-cam channels talking about retro gaming made it possible for more people than otherwise. The reason why is if retro gaming never became like it was/is things would have been like they were before. Namely people just chucking it all in the trash because it was worthless or just junk cluttering up their home. It's why so many old games don't have the box or manual. I remember when Atari and NES games were pennies at flea markets and you'd see them week after week untouched. I remember the AVGN doing his video on the Sega 32x and saying he bought two of them, brand new, for $2.50! I remember seeing them for that price also.
None of this would be seen as cool, culturally significant, or anything at all without TH-cam creators talking about it. It's like winning the lottery but complaining about paying taxes on it. Be grateful to have it at all.
I think TH-camrs and streamer on Twitch talking about classic videogames was a time bomb, and the detonator was the pandemic, people before pandemic was like: oh that classic game looks interesting, when I get time I'll buy and try it
I'm sure people got the ideas for what to go for from watching TH-camrs, but people have been talking about old console hidden gems & games they like for about ten years & it's only gotten this bad in the last year, give or take a few months.
The truth is when any game I'm after gets mentioned in a video with a lot of people seeing it the price going up does cross my mind... But I wouldn't ever be angry at someone for unintentionally raising the price, I think it's going to happen no matter what. If not for TH-cam there would still be forums discussing these games or any kind of social gathering on the internet focused on game collecting, and collectors will always be after the more expensive games keeping the demand high.
Yeah somewhat but at least these channels have their hearts in the right places, sharing their passion for gaming. Not like the crooked ass grading companies and auction houses artificially inflating prices for pure profit.
Interesting video! I think TH-camrs have unintentionally raised prices, or at least got people excited to buy certain games. I wouldn't blame TH-camrs though, it's just supply and demand I guess. Also buying a cart is a choice, there are plenty of very decent emulation options out there. Channels like yours are a great thing for the retro community! On saying that, if Mr Nutz increases in price I will hold you personally responsible haha
I definitely bought Rocket Knight Adventures because of you, but I can't singularly blame TH-camrs for high game prices. Ebay and Facebook groups along with TH-cam all play a part in allowing access and information that influences the market dynamics for more things than video games.
An idea for a future video. I'm both a film buff, and a retro gamer. I can watch any movie I want on any system I want and no one bats an eye. I'll even get sideways glances that most of my collection is on VHS, as everyone else has moved to 4K Blu Rays or whatever the new hot thing is. Why is it that retro gamers are so absolutely dead set on "accuracy", while other communities don't care? I play most of my games emulated. I love that I can have every system I had as a kid on 1 hard drive, and them take up minimal space, both physically and on the hard drive, and I especially love retro handhelds that I can play anywhere. That drives people nuts. People even say I haven't played them if I don't play a physical copy, yet no one says that I haven't watched Dracula because I didn't watch it on an authentic film projector from 1930. Always been a thing about the retro community that irked me, and I'd be curious to hear your, and others, take on it
Short answer yes, long answer it's depend specially those game which get tags "hidden gems" and sell online.
Oh yes I can name ALOT of them. They are to blame and also this pandemic also everybody wanted to explore the good Ol days and be posers. A lot has changed
If a lot of TH-camrs jump on a topic because it is trending it can have an impact on prices and that usually happens around a new release of an older franchise. In the 3 months leading up to Metroid Dread I've seen the prices rise for the Prime games, Super Metroid went for 60 euros loose on average and the GBA games like Fusion where impossible to find. It's only logical. It sucks that the games become more expensive but it's kinda beautiful that so many people around the world are looking to discover or rediscover that same franchise. It's like a spirit bomb and TH-camrs do bring them together 😉
I've had people in my comments, even as a very small channel, telling me that when I recommend games I'm pushing the prices up. But I have to say like I don't know what the alternative is. It's a retro game channel...going to talk about them. The only way the games stay cheap is if nobody cares about them, but then there is no community.
Honestly, I think it's WATA. WATA is terrible as they don't make sense. Sometimes someone brought in a game, it got graded, then gave the same game, they got an entirely different grade. And there has been evidence that they have been scamming especially the really rare games. No one really uses WATA. I don't think anyone uses it other than rich people who wanna sell it for profit. The listings that are expensive on ebay of those games are sellers who, well, are rich and reseller and the people who buy them are people who resell too. So the only people who buy these are resellers themselves trying to flip them for profit. If I sold a wata game for 500 for example, the person who bought it would probably list it for more than 500 to make some kind of profit. It's quite stupid honestly.
This goes for regular games, video games are more than just a hobby, they are getting to be serious collectors items like vintage hotwheels for example, so those prices rise because of those stupid rich people who flip them for profit. They don't care about the game itself, if it's anything they can make money off of, they'll do it.
The algorithm blessed me. TH-cam recommended me this video right after reading some comments from another video from another guy who's just quited from collecting. I and thought with myself about how ridiculous it is. People want to blame everyone about stuff like that but, c'mom, we are in 2022... with internet... people definitely TALK about stuff they like. And naturally the stuff get more and more expensive. I live in Brazil, our economy is not going well and I have much more to worry than buying retro games and I'm fine playing stuff on my moddificated Wii with my crt and a blueretro for my gamepads. Videogames are still one of the most beloved things for millions of people around the world, who have grown playing them and are still pretty much alive. And, old games are getting older and older and it's going o be harder to find them so it's was going to happen anyway. As he said, there's much more about these games than collecting and I'm pretty much happy to see videos where I discover amazing games I've never played before. Perhaps I can't buy them now but I can always have tons of fun but simply playing them.
Just scored myself a 27" VEGA Trinitron off the ol' Craigslist, and hoo boy, I see what you mean, it's an amazing CRT, slight corner fuzz aside!
Honestly, I've learned more from sites like Hardcore Gaming 101 and Racketboy than I ever did any TH-cam channel and still prefer that route. Most big channels are just giving me a game or list of games to play with little insight on the game itself. Some of the smaller channels who can spend the time talking about games are hard to come by because YT isn't their job, so they post when they can. As for prices, I know i paid $200 for Sega CD Snatcher, twice before 2010. Now you can't even pay that amount for the disc alone. I don't blame YT alone, but it hasn't helped, especially with people thinking games are an investment like Beanie Babies were an investment. I'd like more vintage collections, but I also know some games rights are lost to dead companies.
True 💸👌I bought a loose copy of Sumo Fighter for Gameboy in fall 2018 for only 29.99. I just sold it last month and was shocked how much the retro store gave me. 🥰
If I find the person that gave a thumbs-down I'm going to recommend they play Battletoads
We don’t have to blame you for Rocket Knight shooting up in price - that happened a long time ago. Thankfully I got it in the 2000’s when it was still cheap.
The complaint about TH-camrs raising prices always feels a little odd because the people complaining usually only wanted the game because of the same videos that supposedly led to the price increase. In other words, the same game may have cost less a year ago, but does it really matter what it went for back you didn't even know it existed? Unless somebody happened to be working on a full set for that console or something like that, I take their claims that they were just about to buy a game that's been around since the nineties any day now until the price spiked with a grain of salt. I've been just about to organize my closet for months now.
Some of the games in my collection I purchased solely because I heard TH-camrs raving about them **cough** Rocket Knight Adventures **cough** and haven't been disappointed thus far, however I do thoroughly check out gameplay footage and reviews before making a final decision to purchase.
This guy is the fuckin man . Yu deserve millions of subs/views
Hell yea bro!
I mean I am surely not that happy when a game is to high in price but if it doesn't got any rerelease or port officially, it's going to be a problem. That's why I am also happy that collections and ports exists if I don't get the thing on real hardware.
Prices going up has been frustrating but I'm not going to become irate at TH-camrs for that. What I will complain about are Top 10 or insert number here lists where they are nothing more than "hey look what I have" instead of actual good games.
Another big reason is WATA games and Heritage auctions. They artificially drive prices up for their own financial gains. Watch Karl Jobst's video for a more in-depth explanation
I think nostalgia is more to blame. That's why GameCube era is so popular right now; the kids that grew up with it are in their mid to late 20s. NES and SNES were similarly high priced 10-12 years ago but can now be found fairly cheaply (with some exceptions, of course).
Retro Bird out here raising the price of Bananas and Rocket Knight Adventures.
You're a thinking man who games on retro stuff. I like that. You see games as a pleasure, you enjoy them more.
If you count PS3 as Retro (let's just do it for now), then I think there is one example of a dev/publisher that just made more copies of a sought-after game. Did anyone recognize the price dive of Drakengard 3? It went from 100$ to 30$ within a month or two and Ebay was, out of nowhere, filled with copies of it. I live in an European country and even a retailer here got stocked up again with this game. Is it really possible that PS3 games still got produced?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, this is a fact that is extremely and almost inarguably true.
Being serious, though, I blame videos with titles including the words "Hidden Gems" and "Rarest and Most Valuable" for the bulk of the drive. Along with that, some TH-camrs also frequently showcase "Video Game Rooms of the Rich and Famous" that normalize a really unhealthy and unachievable idea of how much it's appropriate for a financially normal person to spend on this hobby. I appreciate your rationality on the subject, Bird, along with some other TH-camrs who will flat-out tell gamers the cost of a title and immediately follow it up with "but it's ABSOLUTELY not worth that! Don't pay that!" (Props to Sega Lord X on that note.) But as long as clickbaity videos keep urging gamers toward the notion that expense equates to quality, this problem will only worsen. When we start having titles about "Awesome and Affordable NES Games Anyone Can Enjoy", maybe we'll start to see light at the end of this tunnel.
We need more re-releases online of games, so the physical copies of games can go down.
I think unless the game is really niche a TH-cam vid won't raise the price too much. What will raise the price the most is that Shenmue example you gave.
There were some Sega Saturn mahjong games released physically for switch in Japan only but this still made the original Sega Saturn games balloon in price from around 10-30 dollars to now most listings being around 150 dollars....
No, I always blame the scalpers. They keep everything in high demands of retro physical games.
A lot of old games aren't actually all that expensive compared to new games. You just can't buy them five to the dollar like you used to.
They should be expensive. When they're cheap too many people buy themselves a huge collection only to get bored or move or something and fling all those cheap games in the garbage.
I've always found the best time to collect is when your not collecting. definitely, yeah.!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!
This is why we can't have nice things. But we'll always have Emulation
They certainly contribute to it, but it's not a problem they started. It's a combination of a bunch of different factors driving it from scalpers to nostalgia, where TH-camrs are only one aspect of it.
Absolutely. I don't see how this can be debated. If light was not brought to these games, they would still be relatively unknown.
Don't play scalping prices guys, get a flash card for your consoles, even disc based consoles have ways to play iso
When I realized that I am paying upwards of $100+ per game for what amounts to just a plastic cd, manual, generic jewel case, and paper back insert, and the disc will eventually soon die to disc rot, I cashed out and I am never buying another "retro" game again at these prices. There has to be a relative value on return for what the dollar amount is, and I'm sorry, you're out of your mind if you think it's worth it, and this game collecting hobby is a complete joke now. It really, reeeeeally isn't "supply and demand" (for the most part, some games are actually in low numbers like Beyond Shadowgate for the Turbo Duo or something like that), it comes down to the delusion of people thinking others care about your video game collection and thinking you're a badass so people will pay whatever the asking price is with little to no proof of said actual supply, and the elitism that follows it because money value. I know this elitism doesn't apply to everyone, I kept a few games valued over $200 because they mean a lot to me from when I played them in the 80's and 90's. However when money is involved, it ruins everything. I mean, paying tens of thousands of dollars for old video games just to sit on a shelf so you can look at them and go, wow! Obviously worth it looooooool! And if you're paying these prices playing this as a collector stonk market, well congratz on being a part of the problem because all you care about is money.
These were once dorky forgotten "old" games that you would find at a thrift or flea market for a few bucks, play them for the nostalgias, and then forget about, they aren't show off shelfie trophies. Kinda sickening when you think about what our 80's and 90's childhood has turned into.
UPDATE: In light of new information I’ve recently learned. I’m not sure TH-camrs hold much of the blame. Watch this:
th-cam.com/video/mKbuNwS-gaI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for being honest about it. Metal Jesus has a very popular gaming channel, and says that he doesn’t think he effects the prices. Reviewing a game and telling people it’s a must-have gem, increases demand. The law of supply and demand is predictable.
So I appreciate that you didn’t deny the common sense reality of it.
As a banana person, i can confirm that all of this is true.
Imo to some extent they are. I'm not hostile towards youtubers but I recognize that they contributed heavily to the nostalgia factor and the reawakening of "collecting", the rise of prices with "hidden gems" and this fad of gamers showing off their collections for attention. Although I quit collecting I am guilty being on the bandwagon myself. After seeing the documentary Nintendo Quest it motivated me to attempt a complete Nes set. I had zero interest in a full set before I saw that movie. Media makes a difference in motivating people in ways they wouldn't have without the added influence.
I had never heard of Nintendo Quest before. Interesting.
Agreed 100%. Then gamer youtubers complain that retro game prices have gone up haha... "Look at this game I have and it's becoming rare...Look at me..blah blah blah..." we're all guilty of this haha
Game prices rise over time... believe me, now is the time to put 360/ps3/DS games. They are literally pennies! NES, SNES, Genesis, GameCube etc were all cheap years ago. I bought so many NES games CIB from local shops for around $3, now they'd be $20-$80.
Sure You Tubers have made the prices of a lot of games go up, but then there is also the very positive sides to this. If not for them bringing attention to games I didn't know about I would not even buy them. Also a lot of games I look up walkthroughs that You Tubers post. A lot of times they actually end up saving me a lot of money because I can see whether I like this game or not. Rather than just buying it because I looked at the box art cover. For me personally TH-cam has been a place for research. The games I saved money on buy not buying them is the most important thing to me.
Another topic well presented that exposes many issues and talking points, were you a member off a debate team growing up?
Quick point/no nuance. I recently called out a channel for being both a ridiculous consumer and a TH-camr inflating interest when they put out a video of them purchasing a poor condition Sharp C1 (for $1000).
I personally believe the biggest single issue right now is that the Supply/Demand curve has been shifted to the right by consumers purchasing low grade items at mid to high grade prices rather than TH-camrs.
Never did debate growing up. Glad you thought the topic was well presented though. Thank you!
the shenmu example hit pretty close to home TBH. I didnt buy the originals but I DID buy the ps4 port of 1&2 and MAN was that the fastest ive ever sold a game im glad I didnt buy the originals that would have stung
Hahah at least the PS4 version was pretty cheap.
Yeah but also responsible for finding so many titles I had never even seen growing up. Worth it!